The Giant Eagle brand was the least expensive, and it showed. While the box in the bag was easiest to open, and the appearance was good (grainy with lots of nooks & crannies to hold the milk), the flavors didn't pop. These are easy ones for kids or the unadventurous to snack on straight (without milk). A safe bet, but nothing exciting. When dipped in warm milk, the cookie crumbled quickly, so it was a good thing I had a plate to catch the soggy, falling pieces as I tried to quickly get it to my mouth.
The Nabisco brand was next. While the outer box was the same as the Giant Eagle brand, the bag was much harder to open and tried to tear when I pulled the seam apart. These cookies are much lighter in appearance, with a smooth texture. Not appealing at all to look at. Little ridges in the tops looked like they had been done with a press, not a natural striation from the baking and expansion process. The flavor on these was really very good, though, with the ginger coming out loud and clear (a little heavy for most folks, I'd guess, but I liked it). These would be a good pie crust base. Dipped in warm milk, the lack of natural nooks & crannies was a problem. They softened nicely, but the milk didn't penetrate very far into the cookie, so the ratio of cookie to milk was off.The Archway brand was the most expensive of the three (by almost a dollar, I recall). The bag was more reminiscent in shape of the old-fashioned paper-style bag of my childhood, but clearly
they've made changes in the material (all plastic) to lock in the freshness longer. The seams came apart smoothly, without having to apply too much pressure (the kind that makes your bag of chips open in a confetti-like explosion -- we've all been there, right?). The cookie appearance was dark, a little lighter than the Giant Eagle brand, with less uniformity. Nooks and crannies abounded. Could this be the cookie I was looking for? Why, yes. And, the flavor was a great balance between the molasses and ginger, both of which stood out well. The best part was the milk test. Dipped in warm milk, these crunchy cookies soaked in the liquid perfectly, but left a slightly chewy center. Not quite as good as home-made (though nothing can ever touch the wondrous pleasure I got from sinking my teeth into a fresh molasses cookie from the Pennsylvania Dutch farmer's stand at the Ardmore market in college). The only downside to these cookies is that there is no box to easily seal them, once opened. However, a thick rubber band courtesy of the USPS (we get them wrapped around our mail every day) does the trick very well, and allows you to see how much you still have left. More pricey, but a best-buy in my book.
Have any ideas on things you'd like to see comparison-tasted? Let me know and I'll try to fit it in my ever-expanding tummy.
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